


Home is Where the Heart is

by flightinflame



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Crossover, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Little Groot, Protective Gamora, Protective Natasha, Stark Tower, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-31
Updated: 2014-10-31
Packaged: 2018-02-23 09:53:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2543303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flightinflame/pseuds/flightinflame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Milano is damaged, and Terra is the closest planet with the elements necessary to fix it.  To be more precise, the elements needed are in one particular tower, already full of superheroes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home is Where the Heart is

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TriffidsandCuckoos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TriffidsandCuckoos/gifts).



> For TriffidsandCuckoos who suggested I write this.

Peter stared at the screen ahead of him, feeling worry twist itself inside his gut, curling up and gnawing at his insides. He shook himself mentally. His thoughts were getting away from him at the moment, and he had to stay focused. 

He turned his head and saw the four of them sat there, looking up at him for a moment before returning to their tasks. Drax had a knife in his hand, preoccupied with sharpening it, Rocket had some engine parts on his lap which Groot was attempting to investigate. Given that Groot was currently as tall as Rocket the two of them pushing at each other was oddly sweet. One of Groot's tendrils snatched up a bolt and he turned it over between his leaves happily. Rocket watched him and gave a sigh, moving some of the sharper pieces out of Groot's reach. Only Gamora was actually looking at Peter, waiting for an answer.

Realising that she wasn't going to get one, she opened her mouth to speak.  
"It's the only place we're near. We would have to go weeks off course..." Her voice trailed off. "Peter, why are you so unwilling to go back home?"

"It's not my home." Peter said quickly. "My home... my home is the Ravagers, not Terra."  
Rocket snorted. "We can't go on a huge detour just cos you don't want to go back to Terra. We're on a job, and this is quickest."  
"You can always just remain on the ship." Gamora suggested gently.   
"I am Groot!" Groot chimed in cheerfully

Peter closed his eyes and nodded. They needed to repair his ship, and he couldn't stop them just because of his own reluctance.  
"Alright. Terra it is."  
Gamora reached out to gently pat him on the shoulder, and then went to adjust the course of the ship.

Terra looked a lot smaller than Peter remembered it being, a planet of blues and greens with white trails of clouds across the continents. Rocket was at the controls now, heading towards the area that had the highest concentration of the elements they needed. A city unfolded beneath them, towers stretching out towards the sky. 

Peter took back the controls, carefully landing on the one tower which stood out on the screen, rising far above the others and with traces of the elements that they needed. He managed to land perfectly smoothly, and the Milano rested on the roof with no damage to the building.

***

Clint lay on the couch, his feet on the table in front of him, throwing popcorn into his mouth. Thor swiped the bowl from his hands, and handed it over to Steve. Tony was flicking through the channels, trying to decide on a film, and Clint groaned, leaning his head back so he was staring out of the window upside down.

"Fuck." Clint cried out as he saw a plane he hadn't ever seen before landing on the roof. "Guys, I think we're under attack."  
"What?" Tony asked, standing up.

"There is a plane outside." Clint explained quietly, pointing towards the balcony. The others turned towards it, and it was Thor who spoke.  
"That is not a plane. That is a space craft." 

"Fine." Clint muttered. "There are fucking aliens outside."  
Tony nodded, crouching down and opening up his suitcase suit, stepping inside it.

As a group they got to their feet, heading to meet the new threat. Steve and Thor led the way, flanked by Bruce, and Tony. Clint and Natasha followed behind, Natasha dialling SHIELD in case they needed backup, in case there was anyone else here that they were attacking. There was no sign of invasion fleet.

The spacecraft in front of them was rather dilapidated looking, dented and smudged with ash. Tony lifted up the visor of his helmet, waiting with the rest of them, as slowly the door opened, revealing a figure standing there in a long red coat. He stepped out, and Steve tensed as he saw a mask across the figure's face. 

The alien figure held up a hand, his right hand, his middle two fingers separated.   
"We come in peace." He spoke. Steve stepped further forwards from the rest.

"Hello?" He asked slowly. The figure moved his hand to his head, and the mask disappeared, revealing a surprisingly human face, grinning at them almost nervously.  
"Hey. I'm Starlord, the ship's the Milano, we need your help."

"Star...Lord?" Steve asked cautiously.  
The figure frowned.   
"Are you Captain America?"  
"Yeh..." Steve answered, rubbing at the side of his head in embarrassment. "So... uh, what can we do for you?"

"You can start by moving out of the way and letting me talk to him..." A voice sounded from behind Starlord, and out lumbered what could best be described as a raccoon. It walked straight past Steve and towards Tony, holding up a clawed paw in greeting. "You know, you're pretty good at tech for a Terran. You let me look at that set of armour, and I can fix it for you."

"There is nothing wrong with my armour." Tony muttered, crouching down to talk to him about the suit and extending his metal-covered hand towards him. The raccoon grabbed his hand, turning it over, and then attempting to pry free a metal tile from the gauntlet.  
"No." Tony glared, removing his hand from the creature's reach. "I'll take a look at your tech though. I'm Tony, who are you?"  
"I'm Rocket." Rocket answered. "Let's take a look."

Thor was frowning, watching the two of them, and gently rested a hand on Bruce's shoulder.  
"Watch them my friend. That's a Ravager, you need to be careful of them, they are a danger, they are pirates of the skies."  
"We mean no danger to you." Another figure answered, stepping out from the ship. He was grey skinned, with beautiful red scarring etched over his flesh.

Thor bowed his head slightly, stepping forwards and holding out his hand.  
"I am sorry. I did not know one of your kind was among them."  
"We are an unusual group." The grey skinned figure agreed. "But we mean no harm to any here. We need your assistance." He explained. "Our spaceship is damaged."  
"We will do what we can to repair your craft." Thor agreed, smiling a little and moving closer to speak to him.

The raccoon had climbed up onto Tony's shoulder now, so that he could talk to him more easily.   
"What he said. Our ship is broken, and you can help."  
"What do you need?"

The raccoon's eyes lit up, but the human figure stepped over to them and shook his head.  
"Rocket." He frowned. "Don't."  
"You're no fun." The raccoon grouched, shaking his head. "Fine. Well, our propulsion system is shot to hell."  
"Alright." Tony agreed slowly. "So why are you here?"

"You've got the element we need." Rocket frowned, reaching out to press his hand against Tony's chest. "In fact, my sensors tell me you've got it there."  
Tony moved him away from his chest, glaring slightly.  
"Well you aren't getting that, because I need it to live."

"Well, that's the material we need, you got any spare?" Rocket answered.  
"Come to my lab, I'll show you what I've got." Tony answered, and the two of them walked away.

Clint stood awkwardly on the outside of the group, watching Thor and the grey man deep in conversation, and Tony and Rocket walking away. He jumped slightly when a hand landed on his shoulder, and he lifted his head up to see Bruce looking down at him and smiling. He tilted his head, and Clint looked up to see that the human of the other group had stepped back a little, fidgeting awkwardly with his head bowed.

"Hey." Clint spoke as he walked over. "I'm Clint, that's Tony, Steve, Thor, Bruce and Natasha."   
"Starlord." Starlord answered. "Drax, Rocket, Gamora....who is somewhere around here, and..."  
"I am Groot" The tree interrupted.  
"What he said." Starlord nodded.

"Good to have names for you all." Clint agreed, frowning slightly and then glancing back at the looming space ship behind them. He grinned.  
"Don't suppose I could take a look at that could I?"

There was a moment's hesitation, and then Starlord nodded.  
"Come on." He grinned, walking with him towards the ship.  
"I hope you don't mind me saying this." Clint started. "But you really don't look very much like a space alien."  
"I'm Terran." He answered. "I grew up here... when I was eight I got...well, I got picked up by the Ravagers."  
"Space pirates?" Clint asked. 

Starlord nodded, and Clint whistled low.  
"Wow." He muttered. "I tend to have people impressed that I ran away to the circus, but space pirates definitely win."   
Starlord laughed, opening the door of the spacecraft and headed inside. Clint followed close behind him, staring at the ship in amazement.

Natasha peeled away from the rest of the group, heading after Clint to make sure he didn't get into trouble, a look of exasperation on her face. She was a little surprised when a beautiful woman with green skin fell in step beside her, a frown on her own face.  
"What are you doing?" Natasha asked.  
"Keeping an eye on my friend." She answered. "Much like you I believe."

Natasha nodded once.  
"I'm Agent Romanoff."  
"Gamora." The green skinned woman answered. "If you hurt my friends, you answer to me. They might be fools, but they are my fools."  
"Same to you if you hurt my idiots." Natasha said coldly. "I will not put up with anyone hurting what’s mine."

For a moment, they were silent, and then Gamora smiled for a moment, looking down at her and nodding. A quiet understanding passed between them, and they lingered behind their friends, ensuring that nothing got broken.

 

Steve meanwhile was trying to work out the finer points of interstellar etiquette, talking quietly to Thor and Drax as they spoke of events between worlds which had happened centuries ago, unremarked upon by men of Earth. Eventually, he made his excuses, glancing around to notice that the Ravager and two of his team members had disappeared. With a sigh, he headed over towards the ship, expecting to find Clint deep in conversation and poking at things he shouldn't. He wasn't disappointed, reaching the ship in time to hear Clint saying "Please let me have a chance at flying her! I'll be careful I promise."  
"That's not a good idea." He interrupted, before anyone agreed.

Back on the tower rooftop, Bruce found himself facing a small tree, about as tall as his chest.  
The tree tilted its head to one side and frowned. A flower started to grow on one of its branches and held it out towards him, smiling slightly. Hesitantly, Bruce took it from him, smiling at him shyly.  
"Hello."  
"I am Groot!" The tree said enthusiastically, and Bruce found himself smiling.  
"Hello Groot. I'm Bruce."  
"I am Groot." Groot said happily. Bruce considered for a moment.  
"Would you like a drink of water?"  
"I /am/ Groot!" Groot enthused, and Bruce led him through to the kitchen, fetching a glass of water for each of them before they ended up sitting side by side on the couch. Bruce looked up as he saw Thor and Drax wrestling together, rolling around on the ground, both grinning brightly. He shook his head fondly and took another sip of water.

Coulson arrived, having received Natasha's message, just as Steve removed Clint from the Milano, half dragging the archer out. Clint was bouncing, and his face lit up when he saw Phil there, running over towards him.  
"There are aliens Phil! They're really nice and they have a space ship and it's amazing!"  
Coulson smiled softly and raised an eyebrow, trying to repress the headache he could feel forming.   
"I should probably speak to whoever is in charge here."

"This way." Clint grabbed his hand and pulled him back onto the Milano, taking him over to where Starlord was waiting.  
Coulson took a deep breath, starting to reel through the standard greeting for alien encounters. Halfway through, Starlord just grinned and stuck out his hand.  
"You want the grand tour?"

Seeing the hope on Starlord and Clint's faces, Coulson nodded, sending a quick message back to Fury informing him that this 084 was not currently a risk.

Rocket was bouncing around the worktop, scurrying over surfaces, while Tony tried to get a better picture of what he needed. Tony frowned, shooing him away from Dummy.  
"Hey, look, don't bother Dummy, he doesn't like-" He was interrupted as Dummy reached over and patted Rocket twice on the head. Tony shook his head.  
"He's shameless." He muttered, half to himself. "We can get this fixed up, but it's going to take a couple of days. You can crash here if you want, I've got a guest floor."

Which was how, that evening, both teams ended up flopped on couches in the communal area. Clint and Starlord were both cuddled up on bean bags in front of the couch, throwing popcorn at the screen, while the others took their own chairs. Bottles of beer littered the table, and the Guardians as they were apparently known seemed to really like Disney films.

It was towards the end of The Little Mermaid that Natasha realised Gamora was missing. She looked around for her, and caught sight of her standing in the doorway. Gamora seemed to notice she was being looked at, beckoning her closer. Cautiously, Natasha stood and slipped away.

Gamora squared up to her when they were alone.  
"You might not like me here. But you do not bother my friends." She began. "You don't hurt them. If you lay a hand on my team, I will kill you."

Natasha nodded, not hesitating for a moment. She could see something of herself, of the Red Room girls, in this green skinned woman. She was a danger if she felt threatened, and she would kill if she was trapped. Natasha could respect that. She could understand it.

"Alright, but trust me, if you hurt my team I will destroy you." Natasha answered as she walked closer to the Milano, inspecting it, Gamora staying close by and watching her. Natasha ignored the supervision, holding her head high, and once she had looked over the ship she returned her attention back to Gamora.   
"My team are some of the best, and I refuse to allow you to hurt them for even a moment."  
Gamora nodded.   
"As long as you leave mine alone."

"I will." Natasha answered, heading back towards the main building. Lingering by the space ship was likely to merely antagonize Gamora, and she did not wish to do that. Only the very stupid would set out to do such a thing.

Gamora fell into step beside her, and they walked back onto the main ship, pausing when they saw Clint and Starlord sat in the kitchen together. They had had quite a few beers before they had left, but now the two of them were having to fight to remain on their barstools, their arms around each other for support. As Natasha walked closer, she could make out some of what was being said.  
"That's fucked up." Clint slurred, a wide grin on his face. "I mean, Trick used to say he'd feed me... feed me to the lions, but none of the actual guys at the circus... man, that's fucked up..."  
"I know." Starlord laughed, grinning at Clint in return. "And he used to say it like I should be happy, you know, like he was... like he was doing a good thing. He was really... he was a good guy. Yondu, I owed him a lot."  
"Good." Clint answered with a smile.

Natasha frowned, and backed away slightly, arching an eyebrow at Gamora.  
"I think our friends might be equally messed up."   
"I think you might be right." Gamora answered, and the earlier tension was gone between them. Instead, they headed back out to the rooftop, Natasha stopping to pick out a bottle of wine.

They sat down, the wine between them. It was Gamora who began to talk first. By the morning, the bottle was empty and they were leaning on each other, Natasha's head tucked against Gamora's shoulder.

It was a week before the Milano was fixed. Rocket seemed to keep finding new problems with it which meant another day or two of repairs, but eventually even he had to admit it was perfect. He pouted in the workshop, looking around for something else to do. Finding nothing, the Guardians gathered together in front of their ship. 

Drax and Thor quietly said their goodbyes, while Clint and Peter embraced, and Natasha and Gamora exchanged a handshake. Groot gifted Bruce with a flower crown, which he wore with pride.

"Hey." Tony called out, walking over to Starlord and holding out what looked like a cell phone. "I made this... should mean you get contact with earth, at least if you're in the nearer half of the galaxy. Just... just if you want it. And you can come visit soon, I have way too many floors, I'm going to set up rooms for you, So ... yeh. Come visit."  
"We will." Starlord agreed, stepping back aboard his ship, his team following close behind. It lifted from the platform and flew into the air.

The Avengers watched until it was beyond even Clint's sight, and then headed back into the tower. Tony was muttering to himself.  
"I thought Rocket could have his counters at a better height and have a workshop, and there could be a gym, and Groot could have channels of water running through the floor..." He began. Bruce squeezed his shoulder.  
"That sounds like it would be really good."  
Tony smiled softly and continued to plan.

***

Gamora rested a gentle hand on Peter's shoulder.  
"Your world has not forsaken you."  
Peter shrugged.  
"I guess. But we should keep moving... still. We can go and visit maybe. If you want to."  
"I am Groot!" Groot answered quickly.  
"I should like to return." Drax agreed.  
"Got to show Stark I can engineer better than him." Rocket chimed in. Gamora smiled, and nodded softly.

Peter grinned, piloting the ship away from earth, reaching out to turn on his mix tape and beginning to sing. Behind him, he heard the others joining in.  
"I can't stop this feeling, deep inside of me..."


End file.
